Chapter 30

I fumbled with the door knob; my arms and hands filled with bags made gripping the silly thing an effort, eventually getting it turned and pushed the door open. I stepped in and headed down the hall towards the staircase.

Anya followed me around the pond and up the stairs to the master bedroom where I deposited the bags on the unmade bed.

"Put the box down on the bed, Anya. We'll sort everything out later."

She set the box down on the foot of the bed and looked around.

"This is the master bedroom, where the girls and I sleep. There are plenty of rooms, so you'll have your own. I'll talk to Dr. Wills about having your things moved out here. We have some clothes that should fit you so you won't have to keep wearing that stupid jumpsuit."

I headed back out and she followed me without a word.

As we went down the stairs I told here where certain other rooms were and told her we'd give her a more complete tour later.

Outside, the rest of the bags and boxes were still on the lawn; Izzy, Lilly and Peggy were nowhere to be found. I sighed heavily, picked up the remaining bags and a box. Anya stacked a couple of smaller boxes, lifted them up and followed me back into the house. This continued for two more trips, until we had everything moved inside. I shut the front door behind us and we went upstairs.

The last of the stuff set inside the bedroom I took Anya on a tour of the upstairs, telling her to pick a room she liked. She chose the one directly across from ours. It wasn't the largest one available and I wondered why she'd picked it.

I went to the linen closet and pulled some sheets and blankets out and she carried a couple of pillows and a large comforter which we took in and laid out on the bed. While she made up the bed I went back to the master bedroom and dug around in the dressers, coming up with a couple pairs of jeans and flannel shirts that I thought were close to her size and took them to her room.

"When you finish up in here come on down to the dining room. It's the big room on the left after you pass the pond."

"Okay. Why are they mad at me?" she asked quietly.

"Well, they might be mad because you tried to kill me. But right now they're mad at me, not you."

"Why? Because you didn't kill me?"

"No. They didn't want me to kill you. That is partly why I didn't. They think... I think they think... hell, I don't know for sure what they think. We'll work it out, eventually."

I left her, headed back into our bedroom and dug around in my duffle bag. I found my tennis shoes and put them on, tossing the temporary pair into the hot tub.

I stashed my duffle in the big walk-in closet and went downstairs to the dining room. I heard muffled voices and the banging of pots coming from the kitchen. I sat down at the table and began broadcasting irritation, aggravation and discontent in large waves.

Peggy came running out, and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw me at the table. She backtracked quickly into the kitchen, a deeply worried look on her face.

I continued to sit there, hearing the distant voices in the kitchen. Irritation and discontent were burnt away by outright anger which erupted from me in a blast of power I was sure would be felt a mile away.

Peggy cried out loudly, Izzy and Lilly as well, but not nearly as loud. Anya came running down the stairs and into the dining room looking around franticly.

"Sit down Anya. If the girls attack you, defend yourself. Don't kill anyone or break any bones, but defend yourself." I commanded. She took a seat at the far end of the table from me, still casting her eyes around, looking for threats.

I waited and the longer I waited, the angrier I got and the angrier I got the hotter my anger got. It didn't take long before I could feel tiny waves of heat lifting off the surface of my skin and not much longer before the tiny waves grew up and felt like they were coming off the surface of an Arizona road in the middle of a hot summer's day.

I smelled smoke.

Fuck the smoke. I was mad.

Anya's eyes got huge and she leapt to her feet and ran out into the kitchen.

I started feeling like I had out on the Iraqi desert; the sun roasting my exposed and unprotected body.

I heard shouting in the kitchen and a couple of loud slaps. I lost it. Anger gave way to rage. I gripped the edge of the table with my hands and exploded inside.

'Get the fuck out here NOW!' we roared at the top of our lungs. My eyes were open, but I couldn't see a thing. A curtain of red rage had fallen over them and all I could see was crimson. I don't remember being so incensed in the whole of my life. The rage had taken over; I wasn't thinking clearly... I'm not sure I was even thinking. Reacting to the emotion was about the best I could manage and that just barely.

I heard footsteps approaching and Peggy screamed, followed by Lilly's shriek and Izzy's gasp.

Still holding the table tightly I forced myself to my feet and cast my eyes about blindly.

'Sit down and shut up, all of you!' the darkness inside me rasped out thru my throat.

I listened closely and heard chairs being pulled away from the table. When the small sounds stopped, I leaned over slightly, slid my hands off the edge of the table and placed the palms flat down in front of me.

'I don't know what's gotten into the three of you, but fix it and fix it fast. Because if you can't, or won't... this is the last time you'll ever see him.' we hissed like steam escaping from a boiler. I straightened up and the veil of crimson faded just enough so I could make out shapes. I kicked back the chair behind me and made my way to the front door. I opened it, stepped out and slammed it closed behind me.

Stepping off the porch and started jogging around the house. The jog turned into a steady run, which then turned into a dash.

The rage faded away, becoming simple anger, which fueled my run. I lost count of the laps somewhere around twenty three and widened the range of my run to include jumping over fences and corrals. At some point I was either chasing or leading the small herd of horses across and around the huge expanse of our back yard.

After running with the horses I sort of remember running in tighter and tighter circles, while my equine companions watched my antics with disdainful disapproval. Once I'd chased myself into a capricious collapse, I dug my fingers thru the grass and into the soft dirt beneath it and linked with the earth.

I lay there and enjoyed the slow pace of the earth's heartbeat, and unloaded my anger and rage as well as the guilt and combined orgasms I'd been carrying with me all day. I held my link with the planet and fell asleep to the rhythms of tectonic plates shifting.

"He's really warm. Do you think he might be sick?" I heard a voice say.

"We should wake him up and get him inside." another voice said.

"At least he isn't blue this time. I guess that's a good sign." said a third.

I opened one eye and looked to my left. Anya was sitting cross legged on the grass next to me.

"I told you to stay with the girls and look after them."

"I am." she said and gestured across my body. I opened my other eye and moved my head to the right. Lilly, Izzy and Peggy were sitting there looking at me.

"What is this thing you have for laying on the grass in the nude?" Izzy asked.

I lifted my head and looked down the length of my body. With the exception of my tennis shoes I was stark naked. I let my head fall back against the damp grass and closed my eyes. The three of them were holding their hands out near my body as if I were a campfire.

"You should have brought some marshmallows. Then you could roast them and sing 'Kum-by-ya'. Go back to the house and go to sleep." I said.

"Are you still mad at us?" Peggy inquired hopefully.

"A little."

"We put all the clothes and the things in the boxes away." Izzy said.

"That's nice."

"Thank you for bringing our stuff, and getting the things from the list." Lilly said.

"Your welcome."

I lay there silently for a while. I didn't hear any movement. No one was going away.

"Why are you all still here?"

"We can't sleep without you." Izzy said.

I opened my eyes and sat upright, bringing my legs up, folding them beneath me and turned to face the three women.

"Maybe you'd better learn how. I've been considering leaving the four of you here and moving back into my old apartment."

Izzy's face registered shock and dismay. Lilly looked heartbroken and Peggy started to cry.

"I can't live like this. I go away for a few hours and when I get back what's waiting for me? 'How was your day? We missed you?' No! I get cold shoulders and distrust from the women who claim to love me. Give me one reason I should stay?"

I looked at them, my heart full of sadness.

"They were afraid you'd decided to add me to your harem." Anya said from behind me.

I sighed loudly.

'Trust is in very short supply here, or haven't you noticed?'

"I suppose I haven't... til now. I can't make them trust me."

'Sure you could. You don't want to.'

"If I made them then it wouldn't be real and it wouldn't mean anything to me."

'I guess you'll have to decide what's more tolerable then... staying with them and knowing they don't trust you, or leaving and being miserable.'

"Those are the best choices you've got to offer me?"

'I don't see any other options. How 'bout it girls... do you see any other way out of this mess?'

Peggy, Lilly and Izzy stared at me wide eyed. I don't think they were expecting to be questioned by the other voice.